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Hospitalized since early March in Paris and immediately transferred to Germany six days later, Ivorian Prime Minister Hamed Bakayoko succumbed to a dazzling cancer yesterday, Wednesday 10 March. What was the background of this politician who was often described as a unifier? Was he a potential successor to Alassane Ouattara as head of state Sylvain N’Guessan, director of the Abidjan Strategy Institute, answers François Hume-Ferkatadji’s questions.
RFI: Hamed Bakayoko, the Ivorian prime minister, died yesterday at the age of 56. What a man he was exactly? It is said of him that he had an atypical career. Some even say that he was a self-made man …
Sylvain Nguessan: Yes, we remember Prime Minister Hamed Bakayoko, this picture. The man who created himself, the son of a modest family who did not necessarily have a brilliant education – he would have been sent to university, I think, in the third year of medicine – and who came to this position as Prime Minister after have reviewed various ministerial posts, including the Ministry of the Interior and the Defense.
Hamed Bakayoko, the Prime Minister, did not hide it from himself, he said he had learned the lesson of life. So I think that’s what fascinates the Ivorians a little bit, to know that the Lord did not start by becoming Prime Minister at all, to rise to this level … There is something to seduce.
He had different jobs. He was a journalist, director of a radio station …
Yes, journalist, director of a radio station … He’s been involved in organizing several concerts … He’s a man who’s come everywhere to realize himself. Reality helped, President Alassane Ouattara made him responsible at certain levels, and he was able to meet the challenges posed to these positions, which made him Prime Minister.
Politically, he was seen as the man who was able to speak to all sides. He had especially spoken on the phone recently with Laurent Gbagbo …
Yes, Mr. Hamed Bakayoko could really eat breakfast at Gbagbo, lunch at Bédié and dinner with President Alassane Ouattara … He was the man with consensus, the connection between the different political parties and also the connection between the different social strata. He had the special thing about being the man with consensus, the one who could gather the various political actors in Côte d’Ivoire around a table.
And it is especially for this reason that he led the political dialogue last December, and that he also took part in the negotiations on Laurent Gbagbo’s return …
Exactly. And we saw the result of this political dialogue in December, the first time since 2010 that we have seen an inclusive election in Côte d’Ivoire. It is even perhaps the first time in Côte d’Ivoire’s history that there is an inclusive legislative choice. It’s his credit because he knew how to talk to everyone, and everyone also learned to trust him.
But how exactly can we explain this special place he had in the Ivorian political field, and a great popularity, we can also say that?
The Prime Minister said it himself, he made the school of life. Unlike the others who did brilliant studies – doctorate … – he was excluded very early. So he worked three times as hard to be able to take his position properly. And he made the school of life! It taught him to smooth things out every time, not to offend, to get closer, not to be harsh on his position, to always be on the lookout for compromise … I think that was what fascinated him.
Did his qualities unite him as a possible successor to the head of state Alassane Ouattara?
I think, I think … We had really reached a stage at the end of the last presidential election where the Ivorian political field really needed a compromise. The one who could get along with anyone who would not favor confrontation, who should avoid major clashes … I think Mr Hamed Bakayoko, the Prime Minister, was a potential president, a potential replacement for President Alassane Ouattara.
After this death that followed a dazzling cancer, is it a great loss for RHDP?? How will President Alassane Ouattara be able to sharpen his strategy after losing an alley for a political tenor like Hamed Bakayoko??
This is not only a great loss for the RHDP, but also a great loss for the entire Ivorian political class. When the man – hyphen – is no more, one wonders how different political formations will come together to be able to discuss. How the opposition embodied by the PDCI and the FPI by Laurent Gbagbo will continue negotiations with President Alassane Ouattara’s RHDP.
This is a huge loss for RHDP. The man who could appease the ranks of the opposition is no more. Of course, I think President Alassane Ouattara will be looking for someone of his caliber. We do not get into this level of responsibility every day, but I think his strategy will be to find a man who has managerial skills as Prime Minister Hamed Bakayoko to maintain contact with the opposition and encourage peaceful coexistence policies.
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